Distinctly Lacking a Title
by PhantomessEponine
Summary: Sequel to The Mummy-Revisited. This is mostly gonna be an Imhotep/Evie romance, so if that bugs you, don't read it and certainly don't flame me because I DID warn you. Please read and review!
1. A New Beginning

   The crying started soon after we left the city. Imhotep fell to his knees and began to sob. It was the dry, broken sobbing of a man who has lost everything. Feeling very uncomfortable and rather inclined to weep myself, I turned away and let the tears roll down my cheeks as I gazed back at where Hamunaptra had stood only minutes ago.

   I had left Rick and my brother to save the life of the man who had just tried to kill us all. Upset and probably in a mild state of shock, I couldn't even begin to sort out the logic of why I had done what I did. Part of it may have been that kiss in the desert. But another part of it was because I saw the look on his face when Anck-su-namun was destroyed. The horror and despair and the heartbroken realization that their love would remain forever unfulfilled. 

   But why were the tears coming now? Why not when he saw her being killed or when we were running through the tunnels. Adrenaline, the part of my brain still capable of logical thought-process informed me. Delayed reaction. 

   Without thinking, I put my hand on his shoulder in an awkward gesture of comfort. It was almost a shock to feel his skin warm and alive beneath my fingertips. Before, he had seemed cold, distant, all-powerful. Now he was just human. Vulnerable. Mortal. And I felt the innate feminine need to comfort.

   Tentatively, I bent to put my arms around him. I gasped when he pulled me to him, crushing me against his chest. He buried his face in my hair and I could feel the hot wetness of his tears as they fell on my neck. He whispered her name brokenly, over and over. A mantra, repeated with the desperate hope that somehow, if he said it enough, he could bring her back. "Anck-su-namun. Anck-su-namun." I held him as tightly as I could and murmured soothing words, stroking his back and telling him everything would be all right. 

   I don't know when I started to cry and our roles were reversed, but he clutched me to him and stroked my hair, tangling his fingers in curls that were probably in desperate need of a good washing. He spoke softly in Egyptian and I had no idea what the endearments meant, but they sounded nice. He rocked me in his arms and I had almost fallen asleep when I noted the sun sinking low on the horizon.

   I knew that when the sun finished setting the oppressive desert heat would fade quickly into almost chilly night. We needed a place to sleep. I stirred and began to disentangle myself from Imhotep's desperate embrace.

   "We needed to find shelter," I said.

   He looked at me blankly.

   I repeated myself in Egyptian and was rewarded with a nod of understanding. We both looked back towards where Hamunaptra had been. I wasn't giddy at the prospect of spending the night there and I doubted Imhotep would be very keen on the idea either.

   _"Can you get us back to __Cairo__?" I asked in Egyptian, remembering the whirlwind that had landed us here only a few hours ago._

   _"Nai." He shook his head__. I blinked in confusion. It had been so easy to get here… Then I remembered. His powers had vanished with his immortality. Hamunaptra it was, then._

A/N: Well, here it is. Short, I know, but it's a start. And this one probably won't be finished quite as quickly as the other because this one is slightly more original than the first and, starting Monday, I have high school. Joy. If you enjoy my story, please PLEASE e-mail/IM me- mastresskat@aol.com or MunchletteBelle@aol.com  I really do need at least one person to sort of bounce ideas off of. Otherwise, please read and review! Reviews make me all tingly… ;) *~Kitty~*


	2. Leaving Hamunaptra

   A white something was trotting toward us. As it got closer, I recognized it as a camel. My camel. It stopped when it reached us and I patted it on the nose as I grabbed the bridle. 

   I turned to Imhotep. _"We can ride out to __Cairo__ tomorrow. We'll sleep at Hamunaptra tonight." My voice sounded steadier than I actually felt, telling a high priest of Osiris what we were going to do._

   But he only nodded and stood up. We took our time walking back to the empty patch of desert. Neither of us were very anxious to return.

   A little bit of searching around the site produced a bedroll, a blanket and a bottle of whiskey, left behind in the earlier rush to escape Hamunaptra. The bedroll lay on the ground between us and we stared at each other. He obviously wasn't going to offer to sleep on the ground and I wasn't very keen on the idea, either. Imhotep lay down on the bedroll, rolling onto his side to make room for me. I sighed and crawled in beside him, a flush heating my neck and spreading up to my cheeks. He was careful not to touch me except where it was unavoidable and I was suddenly very aware that he was wearing only a rather threadbare loincloth. He would have to get some new clothes in Cairo. I lay stiff for a very long time before finally drifting off into sleep.

   I woke up to the feel of Imhotep's warm body next to my own. His arms were wrapped possessively around my waist and I had cuddled against his chest in my sleep. The sun was still low in the sky and rays of heat were just beginning to penetrate the desert sands. 

   I stood up quickly, wanting some distance between Imhotep and myself. I walked to the pillar where we had tied the camel and pulled a water canteen from the saddle bags. I swished some of the water in my mouth, trying to eliminate the dry morning feeling that is always present upon waking. I spat into the sand before taking another sip, this time to moisten my throat. 

   Imhotep was watching me from the pallet. I took the canteen over to him. 

   _"Water?" I asked, holding out the container._

   He nodded and took it from me, drinking deeply. _"It is good," he said._

   I smiled. _"Come on. It's time to go."_

   Imhotep nodded again and stood up. I tied the bedroll and blanket to the saddle of the camel. The whiskey, I left. Perhaps some Med-Jai fellow could put it to good use. Imhotep was standing next to the camel, staring desolately at the sand. I understood. Leaving here would be like abandoning Anck-su-namun for good. Admitting that he could never get her back. 

   I touched his shoulder lightly. _"Are you ready to go?" I asked._

   He gazed out over the sands that covered Hamunaptra for a long moment before turning and climbing wordlessly onto the camel. He took my arm and swung me up in front of him so that I was practically sitting on his lap. We looked at the buried city one last time before Imhotep pulled on the reins and turned the camel around. The animal began to walk briskly in the direction of Cairo. Away from Hamunaptra. The city that had once been a librarian's blissful dream had become a terrifying nightmare that made death all too real and brought only unhappiness. I was not sorry to be leaving it.

A/N: Sigh. I feel the writer's block setting in. I have a (VERY) vague outline of the rest of this story planned in my head. I need some sort of supernatural apocalypse for our heroes to avert, but I can't think of one. You have to realize, people, that I am working on seven stories in different categories and most of them actually don't require Apocalypses. So if anyone has a good Apocalypse idea that they'd like to share with me for this story, please e-mail me at mastresskat@aol.com or MunchletteBelle@aol.com and feel special in the satisfaction that you contributed something to a story you liked. Also, since you guys are the ones reading this and I want to annoy as few people as possible with this story, I'd sort of like your guys' opinion on Meela. I want to use her in the story. I figure in TMR she was about 25. So 9 years earlier, when the first movie took place, she would have been about 16. Now, I really have no qualms about messing around with her age to make her older. But I thought I'd ask you guys about if and how much I should do this. And that's about it. I'm going to stop before I make this note longer than the actual chapter… ;) Thank you all for liking my story! I dunno if I can work on it while taking notes in class, but I'll see what I can do. I don't like Geography (because who actually CARES what the primary export of Mongolia is, anyway?) so maybe I'll do it then. Hehe. Please R/R, you few people who review are the reason I keep making myself working on this story. Bye! *~Kitty~* 


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